Public event in Berlin for the Alternative Berlin Declaration
PR event: The 50 years of the Treaty of Rome or How to domesticate the people
Wednesday 28 March 2007
This week ends celebrations of the fifty years of the Treaty of Rome witness the attempts made by the EU leaders to redress their reputation towards a growing discouragement in the public. The Berlin PR event was indeed well drafted: a village had been built with various tents, offering specialties from all twenty seven countries and advertising for leading civil society organisations. A concert took place under the Brandenburg door featuring artists from all over Europe and an information track was reproducing the most important dates in the history of the EU. The party went on for the whole night as 27 nights clubs were open to an enthusiastic public.
But one kilometre away from Brandenburg door - right outside the closed area - under the Victory column another event was taking place. The organisers of the conference Europe - Not without the people, presented the results of an independent poll demanded by British think tank Open Europe and led by TNS. The poll showed that over 370 million Europeans, 75% of the population, wanted a referendum on the future of the Union. EU leaders are meeting today behind closed doors to draw up a document on the future of the EU. They would do well to listen to what the voters are saying instead. Open Europe director Neil OBrien said. The poll conducted on 17,443 persons all across the EU showed that the voters top priority is to set clear limits on the powers of the EU to stop the creeping expansion of its powers.
The Berlin Declaration is supposed to start a process leading to a new Treaty to replace the rejected EU Constitution. But the people are showing obvious signs that the future of the EU can only be decided together around the table and not by the elites behind closed doors. The EU leaders cannot hope to distract the people of the important questions by organising free concerts and distributing European flags, the people simply wont buy it!
Source: Open Europe